Beaumont Hospital Board and Another v O'Doherty
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | Mr. Justice Allen |
| Judgment Date | 09 July 2021 |
| Neutral Citation | [2021] IEHC 469 |
| Court | High Court |
| Docket Number | [2021 No. 4095P.] |
[2021] IEHC 469
[2021 No. 4095P.]
THE HIGH COURT
JUDGMENT of Mr. Justice Allen delivered on the 9th day of July, 2021
This is an application for an interlocutory order pursuant to s. 33 of the Defamation Act, 2009 directing the removal, and restraining the further publication, of three videos which were posted on the defendant's website https://gemmaodoherty.com on 8th, 10th and 11th June, 2011; and restraining the publication of any publication of or about the first plaintiff or its staff pending the trial of the action.
The three videos were tagged, respectively, “/live-from-beaumont-hospital-where-staff-are-being-forced-to-take-experimental- covid-injection-which-has-already-killed-tens-of thousands/”, “/live-from-beaumont-hospital-where-criminal-management-are-forcing-dangerous- covid-injection-on-staff/” and “/update-on-vaccine-injuries-leaving-cert-insanity-and-staged-garda-street-gatherings-with-john-waters/”.
The first plaintiff is a body corporate established by an order made by the Minister for Health pursuant to the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961 and is responsible for the management and control of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. The second plaintiff is the director of nursing at Beaumont Hospital. The plaintiff's case is that a good deal of what the defendant said in the first two videos and one sentence in the third is plainly and grossly defamatory of them and that the defendant has no defence to the action which is reasonably likely to succeed. The defendant's case is that all that she said is true.
The plenary summons, statement of claim and affidavits of verification, and the notice of motion and the affidavits on which the motion is grounded, were all served together on the defendant on 14th June, 2021. The words complained of are set out in the affidavits of Mr. Ian Carter, the chief executive officer of the hospital, and Ms. Murray, who, as I have said is the director of nursing.
Mr. Carter exhibited transcripts from the videos and there is no issue as to the accuracy of those transcripts.
In the video posted on 8th June, 2021 the defendant said:-
“… Beaumont has an appalling track record. It is unfit for purpose, totally dysfunctional, and this was long before this scamdemic (sic.) began, when it was, like all of the acute hospitals in the country, emptied out, people who needed life saving treatment were denied it on the phony claim that a pandemic had struck …”
“Beaumont Hospital, which is funded by the Irish taxpayer, has decided to take its own route and it is forcing staff to get this vaccine, if they don't they will be sent home. They will be demoted to clerical duties, they will be ostracised, they will be defamed, they will be harassed, they will be stalked.”
“It has been reported that the Director of Nursing, a woman called Marie Murray, remember that name, one day she will be facing a tribunal for crimes against humanity. Eoghan De Barra, a doctor, which, microbiologist, who I believe is rolled out by RTE in the same way as Luke O'Neill is, well Eoghan De Barra works in this hospital here and he has been filling the minds of staff, who are intelligent, who have done their research and who are saying no to the vaccine, with the most unbelievable rubbish about the adverse events. He's saying that the AstraZeneca vaccine is going to save the world, he's making all sorts of allegations and claims which cannot be substantiated. If we lived in a truly functioning democracy, the Gardaí would be in here today arresting Eoghan De Barra and Marie Murray.”
“Why would we do that to the dying, the only explanation is that these people have lost their humanity, they have lost their compassion, these people should not be anywhere near the sick or the dying.”
“We could end up in here, any day or night, and if it wasn't for whistle blowers like these incredibly brave staff standing up for their rights and our rights, we would be put into the hands of these psychopaths like Marie Murray and Eoghan De Barra.”
“I believe that it is the case in here, that these clots that are being reported, there has been an increase, that they are not informing the authorities and people are being told it's in your head, this is not connected to the vaccine. That is a downright lie.”
“… Beaumont is not only breaching all sorts of international and Irish law, they are breaching the HSE protocols on this. Absolutely criminal that they are doing this to their staff and to their patients. If you are sick, do not come to this hospital because, believe you me, I have seen it through the years and it is like something out of a third world country. Of course, import the third world, we create the third world. Many of the staff in here do not even have proficiency in the English language.”
“So, this is a drug pushing operation and the people who I have mentioned, Marie Murray, Eoghan De Barra and all of the management, senior consultants, nurses, doctors, everyone who is involved in pushing this vaccine in this hospital, they have blood on their hands and, one day, the truth will be told about what they did. I'm telling it here now, but one day the whole country and the whole world will know what happened in these death camps. That is what they are.”
And
“There is nothing more important that you can do at the moment than to let people know what is going on inside these drug pushing camps.”
In the video posted on 10th June, 2021 the defendant said:-
“What you are doing right there is their absolute worst nightmare. Marie Murray the director of nursing is going to come before a crimes against humanity tribunal soon. This day is coming, it's getting closer and closer. The rest of Europe is collapsing and once it collapses in the UK and on the continent, it will collapse here too, and absolutely the same applies in America.”
“These people should be very, very nervous in their beds tonight. Very nervous about what they are doing to the staff in there. Giving them this, forcing them to take this lethal injection and that is what it is.”
The statement of claim also complains that earlier in that video the defendant said:-
“The hospital is involved in a massive cover-up. They are involved in absolutely incredible abuses of employment law, employment rights. Forcing staff to get this experimental vaccine.”
It was said that the transcript of the third video, that published on 11th June, 2021, contained similar material, although less of it. The statement of claim refers to one short passage, which reads:-
“Beaumont is behaving reprehensibly towards staff, the staff are now being told that they are not to come to work if they are not vaccinated. This is unbelievable outrageous criminality on the part of the Director of Nursing, Marie Murray, and microbiologist called Eoghan De Barra.”
The plaintiffs' case is that all of these statements are defamatory and untrue. Mr. Carter has deposed that all vaccinations in the hospital are undertaken on a voluntary and consented basis in line with HSE policy. He has deposed that the consent process includes the provision of information from appropriate experts, including consultants in infectious diseases, microbiology, occupational health medicine and immunology. Staff can liaise with the occupational health department if they have any concerns regarding a post vaccination reaction. He has sworn that adverse reactions arising from the administration of COVID-19 vaccines are reported to the Health Products Regulatory Authority and that clinically significant adverse reactions are reported on the National Incident Management System. In addition Beaumont Hospital has an internal reporting system, overseen by a medical safety officer.
Mr. Carter summarised the way in which patient services are managed and delivered to mitigate the spread of infection. These measures include patient flow control, social distancing, the use of PPE, serial testing of patients regardless of symptoms and so on.
Mr. Carter has deposed that the European Medicines Agency has authorised a number of COVID-19 vaccines that have satisfied regulatory requirements for pharmaceutical quality, safety and effectiveness. The hospital advocates and encourages all of its staff to avail of the vaccines. The vaccination programme in Beaumont commenced in December, 2020 and by the time Mr. Carter swore his affidavit on 14th June, 2021, 32,015 vaccines had been administered to patients and staff. All of the staff working in frontline positions have been vaccinated. There have been no instances of blood clots amongst the patients or staff. Since the commencement of the national vaccination programme Beaumont Hospital has seen a significant reduction in the incidence of infection amongst its patients and staff.
The guidelines which have been implemented in Beaumont Hospital are those issued by the HSE on 28th May, 2021 entitled “ Risk Assessment for COVID-19 Vaccination, Guidelines for Healthcare Workers”. These guidelines set out in the introduction that:-
“During outbreaks of vaccine preventable disease, for which there is a safe and effective vaccine, institutions have a responsibility to provide and promote immunisation to staff for the purpose of protecting them from infection and disease. Healthcare institutions have a further responsibility to limit patient and staff exposure to risk of infection from individuals who are not immunised.”
The guidelines provide at chapter 6, under the heading COVID-19 Vaccination Programme and Risk Assessment:-
“6.1. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 provides that employers have a duty of care towards employees in relation to safety, health and welfare at work. In that context it is appropriate to manage the risk...
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